I have been excited for a new release from 5 Seconds Of Summer for a really long time, I’ve always loved their music and their latest album, Youngblood could not have come at a better time. I have been listening to it pretty much all the time since it was released on the 15th June, so I’m really excited to share my thoughts and persuade you that this is an album that you need to go and listen to right. now.
One thing that really struck me with this album is how much I actually just listen to it all the way through, beginning to end. Yes, I have favourites that I listen to more than the rest but there isn’t a single track on the album I want to skip, they all really bring something to the album so much so that I never get bored by the time I’m half way through, which is a real testament to how good the album is.
The first track is the title track, Youngblood, which they released early so I’ve been loving this one for a while now – and I still really love it. It was the prechorus that got me (that really catchy I give and I give and I give and you take bit) and can we also talk about how good Luke’s vocals are on the chorus? It’s a real great start to the album.
We’re followed by Want You Back, the first single from the album, of which I was obsessed with months ago and I still am now – definitely one of my favourite songs this year. I love the lyrics, I love the guitar parts after the chorus, and compared to a lot of their singles, a really mature sound from 5SOS, which isn’t at all a bad thing!
Lie to me is the first one we get to which I hadn’t already heard by the time the album came out, and I really like it. It isn’t a stand out track for them or anything, it doesn’t have a lot of character, but it’s a nice one, very chill. Plus, it works really well next to Valentine, quite it’s antithesis in a few ways.
Valentine became one of my favourites on the album straight away, even from the ‘dum, dum dums’ before the first verse. It’s really original, both lyrically and it’s sound too; it kind of has an almost robotic tune in the chorus, which I don’t think you can understand until you hear it. Obsessed with that one!
Talk Fast and Moving Along are both great songs too, I feel like they both highlight 5 Seconds Of Summer’s talent musically, Ashton’s drums in Moving Along particularly. 5SOS are really my music taste down to a tee and I’m super glad they didn’t go down an electronic route they easily could’ve done, like The Vamps. They’ve kept to their own style and I am so glad, it’s really what’s made it a good album.
If Walls Could Talk is such a funky track, it’s one of those you know will be great live straight away; how much it pains me I’m not going to their tour this year! I love how the chorus builds up to the instrumental ‘na na na na’s. It’s another of my favourites on the album for sure.
I actually love Better Man so much too! It has a bit of an acoustic feel to it which I really like. It’s very simple but very catchy. More has the rockiest sound of the album, those guitars after the chorus! Those are definitely both two stand out tracks off the album.
I don’t like to choose a least favourite track, but it would possibly be Why Won’t You Love Me, since I find the chorus a little bit whiny? It has grown on me a lot but isn’t my favourite. Woke Up In Japan has that rocky feel More has again a bit and it’s one I need to listen to more. Empty Wallets, the penultimate track, is another great one (the ‘sugarcoated rain‘ bit is my favourite).
But it’s the final track of the album, Ghost Of You, that stole the show for me on first listen. Everything gets slowed down to a ballad – a change to the fast pace, so probably the most unique song on the album. It is, for certain, the most beautiful. It’s like this album’s Amnesia, but I actually love it so much more than Amnesia. The piano in the chorus really gets me. The vocals. The drum build up in the middle of the chorus. The bridge ‘too young, too dumb‘. Possibly my favourite 5SOS song ever… and that’s quite a bold statement.
It was only when I was listening to their previous album, Sounds Good Feels Good, the other day, that I noticed how their music has grown up and matured in this album, both musically and lyrically. Sounds Good Feels Good is one of my all-time favourite albums, but tracks like She’s Kinda Hot and Fly Away would feel lost on Youngblood. They’ve grown and evolved, and unlike for a few albums, 5SOS’ change is a great thing, and lead to them producing their next album yet. And I have a feeling they’re only just getting started.
